Auslander/Frozen Out

DR

Touche'.....and DITTO  on all that!!!!!!!!!

eric_st...

hey now,

as a frequent visitor and sometimes contributor to this forum, i welcome mr. auslander's particpation.

the mantra that mr. auslander preaches in this forum is actually right on the money. essentially he is saying in his short posts what it took me 100 pages in my book to say:

1. most patents are not worth the money spent to obtain them,

2. you have to look at the business case BEFORE even thinking about paying an attorney to file a patent.

the facts bear this out: audit after audit reveals that 80% or more of corporate portfolios are comprised of junk or "productivity enhancing" patents which add little or no value to the portfolio. for small companies who are more focused, the percentage is not nearly so high, but for individuals who have no experience with the patent game the number is well over 90%.

it is a big part of my consulting business to analyze portfolios for licening potential and it is my personal experience that this is not hyperbole. some portfolios contain a few gems, but almost all of them contain a great deal of junk.

why? primarily because most companies have no real patent strategy and don't bother to think about the business case before filing a patent. they obtain patents on good ideas instead of obtaining good patents.

it costs between 5 - 10 thousand USD to obtain a US patent, and ten times this much if you want to get broad international protection. building a portfolio of tens or hundreds of patents is an enormous investment.

even if a patent provides value to its owner, it has to provide a substantial return on investment due to the uncertainty of the investment. in other words, the payoff has to be worth the risk. frankly as an investment vehicle, patents would not even reach junk bond status in terms of risk.

all mr. auslander is saying is look before you leap. if you do not have a business case, you have no business thinking about a patent.

it is like stockbrokers saying past performance is no indication of future returns, or the label on a deck of smokes that tells you smoking causes cancer.

annoying, constant, and necessary reminders.

i love working with inventors, but it is my job to throw cold water on them - even if they don't ask for it or want it. i don't know what a REALITY CHECK is, but apparently it is simply mr. auslander's own trademarked cold shower for inventors.

finally, please consider that mr. auslander's USPTO registration is 18376. mine is 37944, mr. ivey's is 37016.

as these things are assigned in sequence, i assume that mr. auslander is a considerably more senior member of this profession than i and that counts for something in my book. i believe he mentioned once that he is a veteran of world war two so the guy's been around.

i too would appreciate if mr. auslander would share more of his experience with us, but i personally have no problem with being reminded of something that is so easy to forget.

regards,

eric stasik

JimIvey

While I generally prefer not to post things which are about other posters here, I'll just partially echo Mr. Stasik's point.

First, I believe I understand what Mr. Auslander is doing and why, and I don't fault him for.  Personally, I have a different approach to the marketplace, but I don't see anything improper with his approach.

Second, I general, I agree with Mr. Stasik.  However, I think the posts of Mr. Miller and DR are frustrated that, when Mr. Auslander posts, he posts essentially the same answer to every question.  I think there are more effective ways to get his point across.

With respect to all posters here,

Jim

W

Advice dispenced on these forums reflects the general vibe of intellectual property: secure an attorney. Someone who is specialized in what you want to do.

In this regard, Mr. Auslander's advice seems to go for the jugular ("Let's not waste time giving you knowledge that you (probably) do not know what to do with; instead, let's run you through a process to see what you have and what you need").

Sure, it is presumptuous, but for 75% of the people visiting this board it may be (cost and time) effective.

-W

clarkla...

I've ofen seen "tough love" dispensed in some forums where inventors ask practitioners for advice.  Some of it is not just terse.  IMO it's also downroad rude and insulting.

Mr. Auslander is nowhere near that extreme, but some of the people who deal out that rude advice swear that novices just won't exit their dreamworld when they are talked to nice.  

I don't believe in that kind of tough love although on occasion I do envy Mr. Auslander's ability to express himself concisely.  

Sometimes from the question it seems clear a poster is going to take the given answer and shoot off his own foot.  I'm not sure that we do the person any favors when we postulate a bunch of facts and give an answer.   On occasion when I've given answers, I've appreciated seeing someone else follow up by telling the OP to get some professional help.

W

Perhaps the best policy is to contact a potential client off-list.

Keep the forums clean (with straightcut advice), and explain your services in a more directed format.

This is but one possibility.

Cheers,
-W